Jul 11, 2011

Tight Turtleneck to Comfy Dress

During one of those "Oh, I'm sure it'll fit--it's a large!" moments, I bought this turtleneck from Target. Well, it's one of those clingy shirts, but I love the soft feel of the knit, so I was loath to give it away.

I figured I'd try my hand at sewing on knits with something that was relegated to the thrift bin anyway.

Using another dress as a pattern, I cut out a dress.

There are 2 of these, as I cut both the front and back of the shirt at the same time.

My sidekick was right there to assist me.

See? Didn't she do a good job?

I thought the dress might look too much like pajamas without a defined waistline, so I cut a piece of elasticized lace that I got from a thrift store at $.10/yd. I sewed it across the front like an empire waist, and I also sewed two ties into the side seams so it could be tied in back. I then sewed up the shoulders and side seams with the right sides together.

I tried it on Grace and decided it needed sleeves. So I took the original sleeves and figured I could do something.

I cut the sleeves at the cuff so I didn't have to finish the sleeves. I cut the sleeves free-handed, just eyeballing the angle. I basted a gathering stitch, then pinned the sleeves in place and sewed.

Next, I cut 1/4" slits in the neck hole, then folded the fabric down 1/2" and sewed the collar seam. I did three rows of the neck stitching, but two would have been fine.

I love the simplicity of this dress, and Grace wants to wear it all day, all night because it is so comfortable.

It took me 2-1/2 hours at most, and this was the first time I had sewn with knits or made a dress completely pattern-less. I'm not sure what I was afraid of, because it was so easy. I just needed to adjust my thread tension a little to between 2 and 3.